Lotions or emulsions remain an important component of human concourse. Emulsions act as a vehicle for the injection, enteral, and transdermal incorporation of molecules into man and animal. The utility of an emulsion of 25% oil and 75% water is recognized with its utility including the “feel” of the product. Most plant oils contain approximately 14 g fat and 120 calories per tablespoon. Thus, ordinary lotions deliver 14 grams of fat and 120 calories per ounce. Therefore, emulsions can provide a means of delivering calories to man or animal. In those emulsions approaching 25% oil, there would be half this amount. The equal proportions of oleophilic and hydrophilic substances solubilize in emulsion with humectants and emulsifiers such as cetyl alcohol. The resulting compositions can be used as components of sauces for food, hand moisturizers, cosmetics for the face or as vehicles for delivering chemical compounds to the skin to enhance beauty or treat disease. The various sequencing of mixing oil into water (o/w), water into oil (w/o), and varying mixtures of w/o/w or o/w/o to produce lamellae progressively are part of the general knowledge of emulsions. At the other extreme, oils and waxes contain small amounts of water to form creams and ointments.
As a delivery vehicle, emulsions can be used to construct bi-lipid membranes containing sub-microscopic packages of solutions or artificial liposomes suspended in solution. There is numerous art dealing with liposome preparations of drugs. All of these require high temperatures, high energy mechanical mixing (often times high shear), centrifugation, or settling. It is also known in the art to use CFAs, and more specifically conjugated linoleic acids in emulsions for cosmetic applications. However, such use appears to remain limited to acylated esters or conjugated linoleic acid itself in small concentrations for the effect of intradermal cosmetic goals. These goals can be met with small concentrations of CFA. Other inventions seek specific isomer related effects.
The simplest of emulsions are comprised of 50% oil and water mixtures. However, these are not generally stable over even short time periods and will separate into distinct oil and water layers upon standing. Generally, the process for forming stable emulsions may involve heating, cooling, or mechanical mixing with numerous emulsifiers, such as diethyl amine or cetyl alcohol. For example, stable emulsions generally result from heating equal parts of oil and water with miscing agents heated to 70 degrees centigrade and cooled while mixing. It is generally held in the prior art that formation of stable emulsions at room temperature requires a number of petroleum byproducts. Byproducts from these processes can have deleterious health consequences. For example, it has been estimated that triethylamine (TEA), a commonly used additive, production in the US alone approaches 1.2 billion pounds. Its biological impact remains neutral at best. The reduction of this additive would eliminate one more source of additive related health risks. All of these processes require admixture with various humectants and/or emulsifiers to produce pleasing stable emulsions.
It would be desirable to be able to produce a stable emulsion for use in various applications including, emulsions as vehicles for the injection, enteral, and transdermal incorporation of molecules into man and animal, as lotion bases for dermal applications including moisturizing the skin and for nutrient and calorie delivery without the requirement for complicated and expensive procedures. Additionally, it would be desirable to be able to produce such useful emulsions without the need for added components such as stabilizers and emulsifiers that add expense and may produce toxic byproducts.